Health Goals!

First week of November, right after joining CrossFit

Yesterday evening was the hardest workout I have ever done in my entire life.  I honestly didn't think I could finish it, towards the end.  It was ten rounds, totaling 350 single unders (for the uninitiated that means jump rope!), and 90 thrusters (squatting with 45 lb barbell and then pushing it overhead).  I was almost crying by the end, and could hardly move when I got home!  I'm very proud of myself for finishing within the allotted 40 minutes (my time was 29 minutes, everyone else was finished by the 15 minute mark!)  I love Palo Duro CrossFit, the classes and coaches.  Everyone is so encouraging!!!  I'm surrounded by folks of all ages sporting six packs upon six packs, and yet they never make me feel bad about my body, and are always telling me that soon I will be able to do what they do, and that I'm doing well.  It's such a positive atmosphere!

My health is something I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to for most of my life.  All of my growing up years, my parents were health nuts and I lived a naturally healthy life.  I grew up on a farm where we dug ditches and bucked hay for the fun of it, built forts out of straw bales, shoveled cement, carried 50 lb bags of animal feed, milked our cow (that is really hard work!), and pushed heavy wheelbarrows around on a daily basis.  Our diet consisted of garden produce, dairy, and meat from the farm, supplemented with whole foods Mom would order through the local co-op.  None of us were overweight except for Dad, who has a ridiculously efficient metabolism.  And we didn't even think twice about our weight.  We just lived the way we did because our parents raised us that way, and I am thankful for the health that they bequeathed to us in this fashion!

My flock of chickens. 2006, age 18

When I hit 25 years old my metabolism and growth stabilized, and I noticed myself putting on the pounds.  I also had started traveling and doing other things, and was no longer getting the natural exercise from the farm.  I knew that I needed to be in control of my diet and health, so I bought a bicycle and started riding the 5.5 miles to work every day (nearly froze my nose off in the winter time!!!)  I joined a martial arts class which totaled 4 hours per week of hard core working out, and drastically changed my diet (my family had strayed off the health food aisle and drifted into the sugar cereal aisle by then).  I lost 30 lbs in one month and felt AMAZING.  It was fairly easy to maintain my weight and I didn't worry about it anymore, until I got married and became pregnant at age 27.

September 14, 2014 at peak condition

Exactly one year later
September 2015, 7 months pregnant

 Unfortunately at around the six month mark in my first pregnancy I developed preeclampsia, which is a dangerous high blood pressure condition many women get randomly (no one knows the cause yet).  I had to stop working out at the gym and start eating right again (I had fallen off the wagon with those pregnancy cravings for In n Out Burger!).  I gained sixty pounds, and after my little girl was born 6 weeks prematurely I couldn't shake the weight.  I got pregnant again five months later and managed to keep an even weight throughout that pregnancy, not losing but not gaining either.

My younger daughter is almost 14 months old and I still weigh exactly the same as I did two years ago.  I went from a tight, toned 140 lbs (the ideal weight for my height and muscle mass) to 200 lbs with love handles and low energy.  My weight has been a constant discouraging fight and trial for the past two years.  I would try to avoid sugar for a few weeks, and after constantly fighting the cravings and noticing zero weight loss, I would get discouraged and console myself with chocolate cake and coconut cookies (I make dang good chocolate espresso cake! And my coconut cookies are to die for.) Working out was sketchy also, with two babies to care for and a husband who worked overtime and weekends to support us.

Then we moved to Texas three months ago.  In November I met an amazing lady at the church we ended up a part of, and she invited me to the CrossFit class she coached.  She offered to pick me up (we are currently a one vehicle family), and her daughter offered to watch the kiddos for me.  Everything fell into place, and I've been working out twice a week since Thanksgiving.  The last week of December I got rid of all the Christmas goodies in my house and vowed to quit baking more, and stocked up on meat and veggies.  I haven't lost a single pound yet--I weighed myself at 200.4 this morning--but I feel so much better and know I'm going in the right direction!  If I can resist the siren song of the fried chicken and donuts on every corner here in the South, hopefully by this time next year I'll be doing so much better.  My goal is to lose 50 lbs by Christmas.  If I avoid the scale I will also hopefully avoid feeling discouraged as well.  In six months--July--I will weigh myself again and see what progress I've made.  With God's help, TJ's support, and my dear friend Tracy's encouragement, I will DO this!!!

Today.  (I am terrible at selfies!)